EAST LANSING, Mich. For Amp Campbell, the timing couldn’t have been better.
At this point last year, Michigan State’s sixth-year senior cornerback thought his career might be over after he fractured the sixth and seventh vertebrae in his neck during a 48-14 loss to Oregon.
Last night, he found out it was beginning again. Campbell scooped up a fumble and returned it 85 yards for a touchdown with 14:08 left in the fourth quarter. That gave the Spartans a 24-17 lead and they stunned the Pac-10 Ducks, 27-20, in the season opener before a capacity crowd of 72,923 at Spartan Stadium.
“I feel like a little kid right now,” Campbell said. “Everything broke right for me. I was just praying nobody wouldcatch me. I knew we needed a big play, and that really helped get our defense going.
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The Spartans had struggled for the first three quarters to contain Oregon’s junior quarterback A.
J. Feeley, who completed 27 of 49 passes for 343 yards and two touchdowns. Feeley, who stepped in for departed star Akili Smith, gave the Ducks a 17-7 lead on a 19-yard TD pass to Tony Hartley with 9:30 left in the third quarter. But MSU’s defense disconnected Feeley’s batteries in the critical moments of the fourth quarter, when he completed just eight of 21 passes and Oregon, which rushed for just 28 yards, could only manage a 43-yard field goal.
Campbell’s play the second longest fumble return in MSU history occurred with the game tied at 17-17. Oregon had moved the ball to the MSU 13 and looked like it might be ready to take the lead. But then, linebacker Julian Peterson stripped backup tailback Herman Ho Ching of the ball after a two-yard loss and Campbell broke out of the pack for his dramatic sprint to the end zone.
It was the ultimate comeback for a player who underwent spinal fusion surgery the night of his injury and disappeared the rest of the season. “I remember those nights in the hospital where I couldn’t move, where I couldn’t roll over to pick up the phone,” he said. “I just prayed all the time, and my prayers were answered.
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Campbell was cleared to play this summer, and the NCAA granted him a sixth year of eligibility. He finally returned to the starting lineup against the Ducks to the thunderous applause of Michigan State fans. “I’m so pleased and proud about Amp in so many ways,” Michigan State coach Nick Saban said. “I’ve never felt lower as a coach (than) when he got hurt. I’ve never felt higher than when he picked up that fumble and ran it back.
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